For the first time in her LPGA Tour career, American Yealimi Noh is a champion as she won the 2025 Founders Cup at Bradenton Country Club by four strokes over Jin Young Ko.
Noh put on a ball-striking show all week in Western Florida, dominating in particular on approach shots. She hit an exceptional 67 greens this week, and more than the pure quantity was the amazing quality. Noh was giving herself a good look at birdie nearly every hole of the week. Sunday, Noh was on fire once again hitting 17 greens despite hitting only nine fairways. All in all she had three birdies and no bogeys to shoot a -3 68.
Noh’s putter wasn’t flawless, but it was functional enough to give her the comfortable victory. While she had over 120 putts on the week, she did hit timely ones.
Ko struggled, especially on the back nine Sunday. On the turn she appeared to be in control with a one stroke lead and all of the experience on her side. She had three bogeys on the back nine though, her first three of the week so far. In a statistic very unlike Ko, she missed six greens on the day.
While Noh has been a full-time player on the LPGA Tour since 2020, she still is only 23-years-old. She made her first, and at this point only Solheim Cup in 2021, if she continues to strike the ball like this, don’t be surprised if she is back in 2026.
